iPad as a laptop replacement

[Ludatyk]

Cool! I was thinking about getting or making a case like this for my M1 iPad Pro! So you upgraded to the M4?

Yup… upgraded day one! Crazy part of it… I was criticizing Apple on forcing users to upgrade our accessories and I have to admit the keyboard IS a reason to upgrade lol.

I know it might seem strange to upgrade an iPad just for the keyboard, but the new keyboard provides a laptop-like feel to it… and the bigger trackpad is a must have.

I’m hoping to try to upgrade to the M4 sometime in the next year or so, and I think I’m going to stick to the 11”. For the kinds of things where I’ve thought about using additional screen real-estate like 3D modeling, I think a portable monitor plus an 11” iPad may be a better combo for my use-case. I’m guessing you opted for the 13”? How do you like the display?

Yeah, I’ve always opted for the larger size iPad ever since Apple introduced it back in ‘15. And I have to be honest… the jump from mini-LED to OLED is not anything groundbreaking from a visual prospective. I didn’t really see anything different (at least for me).

But one major selling point is the brightness… I tend to travel with mine, I like to use it for GPS purposes and it’s exceptional for outdoor use.

But I do have to say, that 13” model is quite a bit lighter than previous ones, and I was a bit tempted to plan on upgrading to the 13”. But I think I’m settled back on sticking with the 11”, because I really like the footprint of it, and carrying it feels more like carrying a book or clipboard than carrying a laptop. 👍🏻

If you are accustomed to the 11”, I would recommend staying with that. And as you noted, you’d get to experience a better display now. Since Apple skipped mini-LED on the 11” iPad Pro.

 

[rletras]

I am thinking an M2 iPad may be better, in that the newer processor should allow it to keep receiving software updates for another 1-2 years over the M1 iPad. The landscape front camera may also matter more?

Maybe the camera could be useful. I occasionally do some video conferences, and having the camera at that position is nice.

I guess I will go with the Air M2. 128GB maybe is enough for me, my personal files aren't more than 20GB, and have a 2TB iCloud for anything else.

 

[Kal Madda]

Maybe the camera could be useful. I occasionally do some video conferences, and having the camera at that position is nice.

I guess I will go with the Air M2. 128GB maybe is enough for me, my personal files aren't more than 20GB, and have a 2TB iCloud for anything else.

Yeah, I can vouch for the 128GB of storage. I have a lot of large vector files and 3D files saved on my iPad’s native storage, plus I have around 100 apps installed, and I still have around 20-30GBs available on my 128GB M1 iPad Pro. 👍🏻. I am starting to store a lot more 3D files natively on my iPad, so upgrading the storage would probably not be a bad idea for my use-case (when I eventually upgrade to the M4 I’ll get a storage upgrade even if I go with the base-spec), but I think 128GB would probably be perfectly fine for most use-cases. 👍🏻

I forgot the camera position when I compared the pros and cons. That does seem like it would be very useful if you do a lot of video-conferencing and such. 👍🏻

 

[Ludatyk]

Yeah, I can vouch for the 128GB of storage. I have a lot of large vector files and 3D files saved on my iPad’s native storage, plus I have around 100 apps installed, and I still have around 20-30GBs available on my 128GB M1 iPad Pro. 👍🏻. I am starting to store a lot more 3D files natively on my iPad, so upgrading the storage would probably not be a bad idea for my use-case (when I eventually upgrade to the M4 I’ll get a storage upgrade even if I go with the base-spec), but I think 128GB would probably be perfectly fine for most use-cases. 👍🏻

Are you off loading files to an external drive or prefer cloud storage?

 

[Kal Madda]

Are you off loading files to an external drive or prefer cloud storage?

I use a combination of both. I have a terabyte of OneDrive storage, and I also have a decent amount of iCloud storage, but the iCloud storage is shared. I end up saving backups for a lot of my design files on OneDrive, though the OneDrive app keeps having this bug where it uses excess amounts of native storage on my iPad. I’ve tried reporting the issue to Microsoft probably more than 6 times, and their support is nothing like Apple’s putting it kindly…🙁😤

But I also like to have native storage for my files as well. So I’ve been backing up a lot of my files onto drives that my Mac Mini manages. This I view as my “local private cloud” storage, because I can technically access this storage remotely kind of like cloud storage since they’re connected to my Mac Mini. I want to eventually see about turning it into a full-fledged NAS, but currently, I access this storage remotely via VNC software. Or obviously when I’m at my office, I can access it locally.

Then I have my mobile storage solution, and that is this handy little Samsung USB-C drive:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WB2NL8W/?coliid=I31FYCO0VAM6YZ&colid=29XGSGN3UQO4L&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it

The transfer speeds are not as fast as a portable SSD, but it’s still plenty snappy for most things where you’re saving less than 100 files to it at once. Seeing as I use this as supplementary file storage and not using it as a backup solution, I am typically not moving that many files at once. I have, however, moved over 100 pretty large files to it at once, and it was fairly snappy performance wise. I’m impressed with the performance for a flash drive of this size. I could use a portable SSD, and perhaps eventually I’ll decide to do so, but I really like that this drive is incredibly compact!

So, basically I have a very mixed setup. I have cloud storage for convenient file access for certain priority files when I have an internet connection (I’ve also found that in a pinch I can use my iPhone’s cellular to access these files and AirDrop copies to my iPad if I for whatever reason don’t have a local copy), my own storage drives managed by my Mac Mini in my home office space, and a Samsung flash drive for on-the-go supplementary storage for offloading larger files I don’t want to store on my native storage. 👍🏻

 

[rletras]

Btw, anyone uses some app to sync files between ipad and external storage? Something like freefilesync for windows.
That could be useful to mirror my local files in the ipad to an SSD

 

[Kal Madda]

Btw, anyone uses some app to sync files between ipad and external storage? Something like freefilesync for windows.
That could be useful to mirror my local files in the ipad to an SSD

I don’t, so unfortunately I can’t be of help there. I just transfer files to external drives via the Files app. 👍🏻

 

[sparksd]

I just want to share with the community… what I just picked up, I’m excited.

TineeOwl for iPad Pro 13 inch (M4) 2024, Adjustable Kickstand Cover - Infinite Viewing Angles, Portrait/Landscape Stand, Apple Pencil Charging, Wing Series, (Black)

✔️ Adjustable Kickstand ▶ Enjoy infinite adjustability with the built-in kickstand to achieve the perfect viewing angle. ✔️ Landscape to Portrait Instantly ▶ Best for book reading, video calls, gaming, or scrolling through long spreadsheets and documents. ✔️ Kickstand Stops at Typing Angle ▶ The ...

www.amazon.com

Been waiting for this kind of case since the M4 iPad dropped, I stumbled upon this morning and when it arrives I’d share my initial impressions. I use my iPad docked to the Magic Keyboard majority of the time, but this case can help me use it more as a traditional tablet.

Nice find! I ordered one for my M4 13" - I'll also use it in lieu of my MKB at times. Thanks!

 

[rletras]

‎Sync Folders

‎Sync Folders is a free version of the popular Sync Folders Pro utility. The app is an easy-to-use for beginners, has the ability to fine-tune synchronization settings for the most exacting professionals. Sync Folders is perfect for folder synchronization on the external storage devices including:…

apps.apple.com

Anyone heard or uses this one? Sync Folders?

An alternative for me is to just use weekly my wife's Mac with Free File Sync and backup folders

 

[Ludatyk]

I end up saving backups for a lot of my design files on OneDrive, though the OneDrive app keeps having this bug where it uses excess amounts of native storage on my iPad. I’ve tried reporting the issue to Microsoft probably more than 6 times, and their support is nothing like Apple’s putting it kindly…🙁😤

Yeah, Microsoft does that with Outlook on my iPad as well. Last time it happened, I’d delete the app and reinstall it.

I’m impressed with the performance for a flash drive of this size. I could use a portable SSD, and perhaps eventually I’ll decide to do so, but I really like that this drive is incredibly compact!

Never seen that flash drive before. But I like portable SSDs, I got the T7…. I ended up buying these magnetic USB-C adapters (packaged with two) originally for the Magic Keyboard, decided to use it with the T7 as well.

 

[sparksd]

Yeah, Microsoft does that with Outlook on my iPad as well. Last time it happened, I’d delete the app and reinstall it.


Never seen that flash drive before. But I like portable SSDs, I got the T7…. I ended up buying these magnetic USB-C adapters (packaged with two) originally for the Magic Keyboard, decided to use it with the T7 as well.

View attachment 2458197

Plus 1 on the T-7 - I have two of them.

 

[bondr006]

Yeah, Microsoft does that with Outlook on my iPad as well. Last time it happened, I’d delete the app and reinstall it.


Never seen that flash drive before. But I like portable SSDs, I got the T7…. I ended up buying these magnetic USB-C adapters (packaged with two) originally for the Magic Keyboard, decided to use it with the T7 as well.

View attachment 2458197

Plus 1 on the T-7 - I have two of them.

Yeah, I have a couple T7's also. Great external SSD.

 

[Kal Madda]

‎Sync Folders

‎Sync Folders is a free version of the popular Sync Folders Pro utility. The app is an easy-to-use for beginners, has the ability to fine-tune synchronization settings for the most exacting professionals. Sync Folders is perfect for folder synchronization on the external storage devices including:…

apps.apple.com

Anyone heard or uses this one? Sync Folders?

An alternative for me is to just use weekly my wife's Mac with Free File Sync and backup folders

I’ve never used that app, but it looks like it gets good reviews! 👍🏻. I may have to try that app out. 👍🏻

 

[Ludatyk]

Plus 1 on the T-7 - I have two of them.

Yeah, I have a couple T7's also. Great external SSD.

Lol, why do you guys have two of them?

If I was to buy another portable SSD, I’d like to try one of those enclosures from DOCKCASE.

SSD Enclosure

www.dockcase.com

 

[sparksd]

Lol, why do you guys have two of them?

If I was to buy another portable SSD, I’d like to try one of those enclosures from DOCKCASE.

SSD Enclosure

www.dockcase.com

Because I wanted 2TB but originally only bought a 1TB drive. I use these interchangeably with my laptop and desktop machines.

 

[Kal Madda]

Yeah, Microsoft does that with Outlook on my iPad as well. Last time it happened, I’d delete the app and reinstall it.


Never seen that flash drive before. But I like portable SSDs, I got the T7…. I ended up buying these magnetic USB-C adapters (packaged with two) originally for the Magic Keyboard, decided to use it with the T7 as well.

View attachment 2458197

Yeah, apparently it’s been a reported issue with OneDrive for several years now, but Microsoft doesn’t seem to care about fixing it. I’ve been having to delete and reinstall the OneDrive app every so often like you said to correct it. I finally got a Microsoft assistant that answered my feedback, and I explained the problem, collected screenshots and a bunch of other stuff to help them diagnose the problem, and the assistant gave me a list of things to try, one of which was uninstalling and reinstalling the app. I uninstalled and reinstalled the app, and told him I had been having trouble to do that repeatedly to prevent my device storage being overused, and asked if he could inform the dev team about the bug. So what was his response? Close the feedback case, and saying that uninstalling and reinstalling the app was the solution! My problem is fixed because I can continue to uninstall and reinstall the app every month or two! 🤦🏼‍♂️🙄😤. Yeah, I was missing Apple’s wonderful support system that I’ve never had an issue with through the entire process… 😂

I’ve heard the Samsung T7 is great! I’ve considered eventually getting one, I don’t think you can really have too much native storage drives, right? 😂👍🏻. I have a 1TB Samsung SATA SSD drive that has worked wonderfully, that I’ve owned for probably around 4 years now. I think it’s the 860 Evo? Samsung makes great SSDs. 👍🏻

That’s really cool that you used one of those magnetic connectors! I thought about getting one of those for my Magic Keyboard. I might just do that. I didn’t realize that some support data pass-through! 👍🏻

 

[Kal Madda]

Lol, why do you guys have two of them?

If I was to buy another portable SSD, I’d like to try one of those enclosures from DOCKCASE.

SSD Enclosure

www.dockcase.com

That does look pretty cool! 👍🏻. I’ve considered eventually getting an enclosure for my Samsung SATA SSD drive, but I’m leaning towards using it as additional storage paired with my Mac Mini. 👍🏻

 

[bondr006]

Lol, why do you guys have two of them?

If I was to buy another portable SSD, I’d like to try one of those enclosures from DOCKCASE.

SSD Enclosure

www.dockcase.com

I keep one in my work case that goes out with me and my iPad, and I keep one at home. I am an external drive junkie.

I have a couple of these also.😊
SAMSUNG Type-C™ USB Flash Drive, 512GB

I also have a WD My Book 6TB hooked to my Mac Mini, which serves as a backup server.

 

[Kal Madda]

I keep one in my work case that goes out with me and my iPad, and I keep one at home. I am an external drive junkie.

I have a couple of these also.😊
SAMSUNG Type-C™ USB Flash Drive, 512GB
View attachment 2458241

That’s cool, I use that same flash drive, I just was talking about it earlier in one of my comments here. 👍🏻. It’s nice that they’re so small, and the performance is actually pretty good for a flash drive. That’s actually currently my main mobile storage solution. Eventually I may add a Samsung T7 to my mobile storage options, but I really do like how compact the flash drive is, and for now it’s been working great! 👍🏻

 

[Webcat86]

While you can't recover a whole window with tabs, iPad Safari does have a history feature...so you can recover individual tabs.

View attachment 2457278 View attachment 2457279

This is what I ended up doing, but I was unable to recover everything. I have a tendency to have a lot of tabs open and they will be open for months, or longer. So I guess not everything was stored in the individual tab recovery.

And @Webcat86, I looked more into it because I thought it was interesting, and apparently there is supposed to be a way to recover Safari windows. If I remember the steps correctly, you hold press the Safari icon in the dock, select “show all windows”, and this should be visible at the top right if some windows unexpectedly closed recently. I haven’t had a need to test it myself, but I thought you may find that useful. 👍🏻. I thought it was pretty interesting. 👍🏻View attachment 2457298View attachment 2457297

I found this when I was searching too but, for whatever reason, the "Reopen Closed Window" did not appear for me at all, despite multiple tries.

Compare this to MacOS where it's a permanent feature under "History" and it's a pretty glaring inferior difference on the iPad.

 

[Kal Madda]

This is what I ended up doing, but I was unable to recover everything. I have a tendency to have a lot of tabs open and they will be open for months, or longer. So I guess not everything was stored in the individual tab recovery.

I found this when I was searching too but, for whatever reason, the "Reopen Closed Window" did not appear for me at all, despite multiple tries.

Compare this to MacOS where it's a permanent feature under "History" and it's a pretty glaring inferior difference on the iPad.

I’m supposing you tried it multiple times by creating a new window with a few tabs, closing it, and then looking for that button? Because I did that as well at first to try to test it, but realized that I was closing it out too quickly before iPadOS had a chance to index it. I tried creating a window with some tabs in it and waiting a little before I closed it in the rest of my tests, and then it worked reliably every time. 👍🏻

Maybe they should assign a keyboard shortcut to that action. I don’t think iPadOS really has the space for a Menu Bar, at least not implemented the same as the Mac Menu Bar, so a keyboard shortcut could provide better access to that feature when a keyboard’s attached, but I think the current on-screen implementation is probably about the best they can pull off, unless they added it to the hold-press menu for the Safari app?

 

[ricojagustin]

This is what I ended up doing, but I was unable to recover everything. I have a tendency to have a lot of tabs open and they will be open for months, or longer. So I guess not everything was stored in the individual tab recovery.


I found this when I was searching too but, for whatever reason, the "Reopen Closed Window" did not appear for me at all, despite multiple tries.

Compare this to MacOS where it's a permanent feature under "History" and it's a pretty glaring inferior difference on the iPad.

I use Tab Groups to solve this issue.

 

[bondr006]

I use Tab Groups to solve this issue.

Could you please elaborate? Thanks!

 

[ricojagustin]

Could you please elaborate? Thanks!

I keep the tabs I want to save open in Tab Groups, and only stay there while I'm interacting with those tabs. Tab Groups are designed to be kept in a more preserved state versus the default list of open tabs.

Right now I only have one Tab Group: Saved. But sometimes if I have a lot of tabs open, I'll separate them into more refined list of Tab Group categories.

 

[Kal Madda]

‎Sync Folders

‎Sync Folders is a free version of the popular Sync Folders Pro utility. The app is an easy-to-use for beginners, has the ability to fine-tune synchronization settings for the most exacting professionals. Sync Folders is perfect for folder synchronization on the external storage devices including:…

apps.apple.com

Anyone heard or uses this one? Sync Folders?

An alternative for me is to just use weekly my wife's Mac with Free File Sync and backup folders

I just installed and tested this app today. It’s pretty cool. You can select a set of folders to sync, and save that combo of folders as a “Task”. Then to sync the files in those folders, you can just select “Sync Current Task”, and it looks like you can even sync several tasks at a time with “Sync Selected Tasks”. It’s pretty handy. This even works with syncing a folder on the iPad’s native storage with a folder on an external drive. The only thing I wish is that it had better Siri Shortcut integration. Perhaps I’ll send some feedback and request that. But I think it’s a great app so far! 👍🏻